The Evolution of 40K part one
by Luten Hans There are a number of modifications that can be made to the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook which will improve the realism of games and the overall balance of armies and individual units that are used. The many problems within the game seem to be the result of decades of constant changes and an oversupply of supplemental resources which are used to form the various armies. Indeed, this has often compounded the problem rather than improving the game. The third edition, for example, was a huge disappointment that actually drove away many who had participated in the hobby from its very beginnings. In some circles, it is even suggested that third edition was created only as a means to make some quick money from those who remained and that the company knew the changes functioned very poorly and lacked character, realism, and a connection to the background literature. The fourth edition and supplemental resources appear to have done little to improve the situation, and fifth edition seem only slightly better. Unfortunately, the huge time delays between releases of official materials has led to many supplemental resources being completely outclassed by the latest releases, or even completely obsolete and unable to function when used with the new rules. While the new rules are a great improvement upon the first, second, third and fourth editions, the leaps and bounds in some areas of the hobby have outpaced others and undermine the overall improvements. Despite the wealth of background literature, there are only seven cultures in the Warhammer 40,000 universe that have been given dedicated army lists: the Eldar, Orks, Tyranids, Tau Empire, Necrons, Imperium, and the forces of Chaos. The Necrons and Tau Empire are relatively new in comparison to the other armies, but these seven collective cultures account for no less than seventeen separate supplemental Codex resource books with a score of others and independent army lists and Chapter Approved articles that are in the stages of becoming obsolete. The Space Marines alone have five separate Codex resource books for what could easily have been presented in a single Codex, and the Eldar resources could also have been published in one source rather than two separate publications. The countless individual semi-official army lists that cater for Imperial Guard Armoured Companies, the Deathworld Veterans, the Swamp Fighters, the Kroot Mercenaries, Ork Klans, the three separate Ordos of the Inquisition, the Craftworld Eldar, Tyranid Seeding Swarms, and a myriad of other options also compound the problem. Despite the rich and diverse background of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Games Development team appear to have found themselves caught-up in the business of trying to produce several resources for what is, in essence, the same thing, and neglecting the opportunity to expand the hobby by bringing in exciting, new, fresh material. It took five years for the Imperial Guard codex to be revised, and once it was, many players seemed to be as disappointed by the release as they were excited about some of the new options. The same old arguments seem to dog development and progress even as the Games Development team appeared intent on keeping money rolling into the company, a situation that has led to a dreadful stagnation within Warhammer 40,000. Players continue to argue about the most ridiculous and trivial things even as others seek to share, explore and improve the hobby. This has led to an increase in cyber-bullying, crippling attempts to expand the hobby to a broader market base even as demands are made for dedicated army lists of their favorite faction of an existing army to add to the stagnation. Many enthusiasts consider the Games Workshop forums and retail outlets no-go zones because of the aggression they encounter at the hands of elitists frequenting these places, and the company itself seems to have no interest in stopping this nonsense. Worse, recent Internet activity suggests the company is more focused on purging its own market. Added to this problem is the constant increase in costs and official releases of new and revised material for the game, much of it only slightly different and ridiculously over-powered and unbalanced, pricing many enthusiasts out of the market. Many of the disenchanted have left the hobby or now watch, infrequently, from the sidelines. It is these individuals that observe the apparent mismanagement rotting the hobby from the very core as those in charge appear to be focused on increasing profits without any real knowledge or interest in their market. The modifications presented and suggested in the articles on this website are only the start of suggestions about what needs to be done to improve the hobby. The Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook really needs one final edition that corrects all of the mistakes. The current Codex resource supplements should be limited to one per culture (Eldar, Orks, Tyranids, Tau Empire, Necrons, the Imperium, and Space Marines) with a dedicated Inquisition codex to cover the forces of the Inquisition and a section on the less dominant species of the galaxy - abhuman/xenos mercenaries - and options for upgrading them and existing armies with weapons and technology from other cultures, as well as the influences of Chaos and daemonic possession. Given this would result in eight additional resources as well as the Rulebook, these could be compiled and edited in advance for publication over a period of eighteen months. This would allow players to access material every two months and negate current problems of imbalance and outdating within a year-and-a-half. The company could then focus of the task of producing models and White Dwarf articles, or even expand the hobby with the introduction of entirely new races which ‘slot’ into permanent official rules. Evolution does not require constant changes to official rules every few years, especially when all it does is frustrate those involved in the hobby as the company attempts to gouge them for even more profits. The hobby has stagnated because people are arguing over mundane trivialities about insignificant differences between various Chapters, Regiments, Cabals, Septs, and Craftworlds that can be replicated through clever use of a single, well-considered, appropriate army list. What the hobby needs is simplification and consolidation of what already exists combined with carefully considered and well-planned rules that reflect background literature and realism, and the expansion of resource material into the existing wealth of rich and diverse background literature. This is why the modifications offered in this article have been published for consideration as a step toward restoring the hobby to the players and giving management a chance to get back in touch with its market and improve profits by supplying a demand, not dictating one and enforcing it with sycophants. The modifications that appear in the other parts of this article (ie, The Evolution of 40K parts two and on) are made in reference to the 2008 Warhammer 40,000 pocket rulebook. 'The Turn' A game of Warhammer 40,000 has often been compared to a game of Chess to help people understand the movement and actions of individual units during the game. The game has little in common with Chess, however, because Chess is better able to reflect the move and counter-move of the forces involved as they act and respond to their opponents. The game of Warhammer 40,000, on the other hand, requires players to each take one Player Turn during every Game Turn to move, shoot and assault with all of their units as detailed in The Turn Sequence section. :: GAME TURNS AND PLAYER TURNS'In a complete turn, both players get one player turn for each of their units, each divided into Movement, Shooting and Assault (see ''The Turn Sequence, below). Exactly what happens in each phase is described in the following sections of this book. : This entry replaces the one currently found in the left column on page 18 :: Hence, one game turn will comprise of several player turns. Whenever a rule uses the word ‘turn’, both in this rule book and the Codexes, it means ‘player turn’, otherwise it will clearly state ‘game turn’. :: So, for example, in game turn 1 a player will use his first player turn and go through his Movement, Shooting and Assault phases for one of his units. Then the other player will do the same. The players repeat this until all of their units have been used, thus ending game turn 1. Game turn 2 will then follow. : This entry replaces the first two in found in the right column on page 18 : '''The Movement Phase As detailed above, the current rules for the Movement Phase are not very realistic. In reality, a unit may respond to the actions of others. Indeed, some units may be deliberately used to bait opposing units to lure them into an ambush, and other units may simply wait until another moves into place before attacking them when they are most vulnerable. Units may even move out of range, away from the danger that is presented by one unit only to find they are exposed to attack from another. This is how a battle flows and ebbs. Units do not all move at once and neither do their opponents remain where they are when they can move away. There is also the matter of how far a unit can move during the movement phase. This is usually 6” but for some obscure reason the rules are completely ignored when a unit wins or loses in close combat, allowing the unit to make additional movement at the end of the Assault phase. This is complete nonsense because the suggestion is that the unit can move further than it normally could. This problem with the rules has been dealt with in the modifications that apply to The Assault Phase section and now counts Fall Back and Consolidation rules as compulsory and optional Movement applied in the unit’s following Movement phase. In the game turn, each player may move any of his own units - all of them if he wishes – up to their maximum movement distance. Once a unit has completed its player turn, the other player selects a unit of their own to move, shoot and assault, then the first player chooses another of their units to use and so on, until the players have used all of their units. A unit that does not move is often more effective at shooting, as we will explain later in the rules. Once you have started using a unit, you must finish moving, shooting and assaulting with it before using another unit. You may not go back and change the move already made by a previous unit. : This entry replaces the one currently found on page 18